FB: Empire 8

[Bombers798891]

I'll give my Bombers write up:

Offense-- This could be ugly. Seriously. The Bombers struggled on offense last season, scoring a mere 24 PPG. They graduate their starting QB, as well as three pass-catchers who caught 129 of the 211 passes the Bombers completed last season, and 16 of the 20 touchdowns. This is despite the fact that they missed 5 games between them.

The team's top returning WR, Joseph Ingaro caught 13 passes last season, six of which came in the opening week when Vossler, Higgins, and Ruffrage were not playing. I don't know who will catch passes next year. Presumably, Jason Hendel will be doing the throwing.

The running back situation is depressing. Clay Ardoin returns, and he was Ithaca's leading rusher with 373 yards and 3 TD's. He's got size, but from what I've seen lacks breakaway speed. Sophomore Jared Prugar will get some carries, but he didn't show much last season either.

Some (most) of this might have been explained by the Bombers' offensive line, which was well, horrible. (Look at the play-by-play of the SJF game if you don't believe me) The Bombers were woefully undersized on the line, and although I've heard the problem has been "overcorrected", it seems premature to think of them as anything but a weakness.

In summation, that stupid "Ooga Booga" chant will not be heard very much. Thank God.

Defense-- As much as the Bombers' offense gives me headaches, I really like Ithaca's defense. Ithaca returns two first-team all-conference cornerbacks, Mike Conti and Spence White.

They also bring back, as usual, a loaded LB core, including junior Will Carter (79 tkls, 12 TFL, 2 sacks, 2 INTs) Senior Eric Toporoff, (78 Tkls, 14 TFL, 3 sacks) and senior Ryan Clark. Senior Joe Gilfedder had 63 tackles and four interceptions in 2009, and may challenge Clarke for a spot.

Safety looks somewhat shaky. David Ahonen's graduation leaves Josh Liemer as the best player back there, and he struggled a bit last year.

At defensive line, losing Matt Dibble, Sean Gill, and Andrew Haim really hurts. Skyler Schlenker picked up five sacks last season, but did little else. Chris Collier may see some time at end too.

Special teams wise, Andrew Rogowski returns after going 9-of-15 of FG's and 27-of-31 on XP's last season and averaging just over 35 yards a punt. Bomber returners were nothing special, but Ithaca figures to once again have a great punt coverage team (4.6 YPR)

I'm not up on recruits, so I can't offer anything there. I think the Bomber defense will keep them in most games, but 6-4 feels about right.

[Frank Rossi]

As someone who has called a Salisbury game (against Union) the last two seasons, let me add that their run/pass balance compared to Springfield's is closer to 50/50 than the Pride's balance (granted, their run is still their highlight, but their QBs can throw decently).  I think in most years except the Chris Sharpe years, Salisbury is actually the superior of the two teams offensively.  It's just been tough with Wesley seeming to own their rivalry and usually one or two other teams forcing a loss.

The travel aspect will be hellacious for most E8 teams.  It is by no means an easy trip.  Union took it in two segments, practicing somewhere (maybe at UDelaware) along the way to stay loose.  The field is somewhat smallish in terms of stands and is very slick (I was joking during our own pregame walkthrough for the radio that I needed ice skates based on the type of surface they're playing on).  Don't get me wrong, though, the people we worked around in the press box were class acts even in a confined space (although, two separate notes were flung in my direction when during our pregame, I called the school "Sals-berry" instead of "Sawls-berry").  I can take a good lampooning anyday, so it made for a funny moment once I understood what they were trying to tell me.

Anyway, Salisbury is going to beat at least four E8 teams during the next two years each year.  I can't pinpoint which ones -- and I'd actually pay money to watch Salisbury/Springfield (although, don't get comfortable as that game will go by in about 1:45).  This could cause more of a Pool C issue than people are realizing for the E8 since the wins and losses may get more spread out based on Salisbury.  Don't underestimate them.

[AUSaxons]

Bombers, I believe that your assessment of UC's resume from last year is spot on. However, I will say that 2010 Utica probably stomps 2009 Utica. The improvement was obvious. Now does that mean they were or will be legit? Absolutely not. But the improvement is definitely noticeable.

As for IC's chances against the option teams, I would like to point out that while linebackers are essential to stopping it, good dline play is also critical. If Ithaca's dline losses are that bad (and keep in mind, Ithaca's dline was pretty average last season. They got abused by Cortland and Alfred, as well as Lycoming) I could see bad things happening against both triple option teams. Certainly their first road game and 2nd game total of the season at Salisbury will be incredibly difficult to come away with a win. I actually think that one thing which favors Alfred schedule wise is every major contender has to travel to Maryland to play Salisbury, where they have to travel all the way to Alfred for that matchup. Anyways, without getting too far off track, if IC cant find the answers at OLine it could spell BIG problems for them.

[Bombers798891]

(and keep in mind, Ithaca's dline was pretty average last season. They got abused by Cortland and Alfred, as well as Lycoming)

Ithaca's defensive line was average, yes, but they held Springfield to 190 total yards and 10 first downs last season

[AUSaxons]

Very true! If I recall correctly that was the least amount of yardage Springfield gained on the ground all season. An impressive feat no doubt, we'll see if the new dline can live up to the standards that the old one placed in that regard!

(and keep in mind, Ithaca's dline was pretty average last season. They got abused by Cortland and Alfred, as well as Lycoming)

Ithaca's defensive line was average, yes, but they held Springfield to 190 total yards and 10 first downs last season

[AUKaz00]

101 freshman coming to camp in Mayberry.

[AUSaxons]

Wow- That list leaves a lot to chew on. Will the Saxons move most of their runningback recruits, a position that AU is loaded at, to the wide reciever position in hopes of finding a true "#1" target? If not, will any of the runningbacks become part of the halfback rotation? Will any of the 3 OLine recruits be able to step up and fill the only noticeable chink in the Saxons armor? Will any of these other recruits be great additions? And, lastly, will a recruit overlooked by this list emerge as a key contributor? Michael Perkins has certainly been highly talked about in the leadup to the season, the fact that he didnt appear on this list was surprising to me. Last years freshman class was about 50/50 in terms of contributors vs non contributors from the "All State recruits" list, if they can get that kind of production out of this class along with 1 or 2 non all state guys contributing at the right spots, this freshman class could help complete this Alfred team. The word around these parts is this is one of our best classes ever, and I have heard out of Dave Murray's own mouth that he expects to have several freshmen in the two deep next season. Seeing this list, I can only hope some great OLinemen and recievers can emerge out of this class.

[Frank Rossi]

Wow- That list leaves a lot to chew on. Will the Saxons move most of their runningback recruits, a position that AU is loaded at, to the wide reciever position in hopes of finding a true "#1" target? If not, will any of the runningbacks become part of the halfback rotation? Will any of the 3 OLine recruits be able to step up and fill the only noticeable chink in the Saxons armor? Will any of these other recruits be great additions? And, lastly, will a recruit overlooked by this list emerge as a key contributor? Michael Perkins has certainly been highly talked about in the leadup to the season, the fact that he didnt appear on this list was surprising to me. Last years freshman class was about 50/50 in terms of contributors vs non contributors from the "All State recruits" list, if they can get that kind of production out of this class along with 1 or 2 non all state guys contributing at the right spots, this freshman class could help complete this Alfred team. The word around these parts is this is one of our best classes ever, and I have heard out of Dave Murray's own mouth that he expects to have several freshmen in the two deep next season. Seeing this list, I can only hope some great OLinemen and recievers can emerge out of this class.

I guess Alfred's freshman team alone would be ineligible for the NJAC :-)

[AUSaxons]

Haha, though that is humorous it does bring up the question is AU over recruiting? Last year the number was 130, this year 101, and according to people close to the program there will be around 250 kids reporting to Saxon camp.  In most games a maximum of around 50 players see the field. That means of the 250 you are inviting to camp, only 20% of the players in your program have the opportunity to actually see the field. I think having 250 kids probably hinders to growth of the kids towards the bottom of the depth charts because they have no way by which to get playing time.

Now, it's worth pointing out the counter argument which is AU had 80 freshman come to camp out of last years senior class, and only 11 seniors were still on the team for senior day against Ithaca last season. That's 1/8th of the kids who signed to play actually playing all 4 years. Based on that, the argument could definitely be made that AU needs to recruit a large number of kids to deal with the attrition rate, but would that rate be so high if there were less recruits and kids weren't so buried on the depth chart?

It begs the question, are a lot of these kids recruited and brought in with the full knowledge of the coaches that he will never see the field? 101 kids in a class sort of makes me wonder if recruits #100 and #101 on the "recruiting board" are being brought in without any real chance of ever playing. If this is the case, is it right? Just an ethical question in recruiting I figured i'd share with the board!

Wow- That list leaves a lot to chew on. Will the Saxons move most of their runningback recruits, a position that AU is loaded at, to the wide reciever position in hopes of finding a true "#1" target? If not, will any of the runningbacks become part of the halfback rotation? Will any of the 3 OLine recruits be able to step up and fill the only noticeable chink in the Saxons armor? Will any of these other recruits be great additions? And, lastly, will a recruit overlooked by this list emerge as a key contributor? Michael Perkins has certainly been highly talked about in the leadup to the season, the fact that he didnt appear on this list was surprising to me. Last years freshman class was about 50/50 in terms of contributors vs non contributors from the "All State recruits" list, if they can get that kind of production out of this class along with 1 or 2 non all state guys contributing at the right spots, this freshman class could help complete this Alfred team. The word around these parts is this is one of our best classes ever, and I have heard out of Dave Murray's own mouth that he expects to have several freshmen in the two deep next season. Seeing this list, I can only hope some great OLinemen and recievers can emerge out of this class.

I guess Alfred's freshman team alone would be ineligible for the NJAC :-)

[Pat Coleman]

Well, I would say that the 20% number isn't really fair because there are certainly opportunities for more than 50 players to get playing time in any individual game. I would say that you could probably comfortably get 80 players into a blowout.

Also, for many small colleges, football is about enrollment. Will 101 kids make it to their senior year of football at Alfred? No. But most of them will stay and graduate, and that's very important.

[AUSaxons]

The part about enrollment was sort of what I was implying. Now, as many of you know, even at the d3 level football is a major reason some of these kids go to the universities they do. It has to be a major reason if they are going to commit so much time to it not just during the season, but throughout the course of the off season as well. If a football coach is recruiting you, then I believe you should have a certain expectation that the coach believes you have a chance to be individually sucessfull in his football program. That doesnt mean the coaches should be only recruiting people they're expecting to start on day 1, but If the coach doesn't have that expectation that you are good enough to have individual success, then you're basing a decent chunk of your decision on where to go to school on something that is a falsehood.

I know a lot of people are down on the LL and NJAC rules that limit recruiting, but atleast there is a level of honesty in that system. They aren't having kids base huge decisions (like where to go to college) on what basically amounts to a falsehood. If the only reason a football coach is recruiting recruits #100 and #101 is for enrollment, I think that's disingenuous.

This all being said, I have tremendous respect for the AU coaching staff. They are a great group of people and the AU football team has done more to contribute to the community then any other sports team in Alfred, but the system is screwed up. You shouldn't be able to give these kids something to base a decision on that isn't reality. I mean, yes, recruits #100 and 101 will be allowed to stay on the football team for all 4 years if they choose, but if the coaches go into it knowing those recruits probably aren't ever going to play then you're kind of screwing the kid over.

Well, I would say that the 20% number isn't really fair because there are certainly opportunities for more than 50 players to get playing time in any individual game. I would say that you could probably comfortably get 80 players into a blowout.

Also, for many small colleges, football is about enrollment. Will 101 kids make it to their senior year of football at Alfred? No. But most of them will stay and graduate, and that's very important.

[Ralph Turner]

Part of the responsibility of the institution is the help the student-athlete negoatiate the time when one's athletic talent has carried the student-athlete as far as s/he will get.

When it is time to hang up the cleats, then the institution is there to re-focus the student's interests and efforts. The leadership and discipline aspects learned in athletics can then be applied to other interests.  At a D-III school where there are multiple opportunities to try numerous things, that becomes a major function of D-III schools, that may not be possible on a campus of 5,000 or 45,000.

A high percentage of the top leaders at McMurry are "former" athletes, whose talents have been bested at the D-III level.  There is no shame in giving 100% and finding that someone's 100% is better.  Understanding when to move on is a great lesson to learn by your early 20's.

Almost certainly that 101st Alfred football "recruit" will be a talented individual who will leave Alfred better than when he arrived.

[AUSaxons]

But what if that 101st recruit at Alfred could have played at Becker? Or Anna Maria? Or West Conn? Yeah, they're crappy football teams, and the skill level is undeniably far lower and it is, therefore, likely to accept players who would otherwise be Alfred's worst. Maybe they would have gotten their 4 year experience of college football, got a chance to play a decent amount and learned all of those same lessons tenfold (as those teams work as hard as anyone, the talent level is just so low). That's my point, this is not done in the interest of the student athlete. Not even close. It's a somewhat dishonest way of expanding your enrollment.

Part of the responsibility of the institution is the help the student-athlete negoatiate the time when one's athletic talent has carried the student-athlete as far as s/he will get.

When it is time to hang up the cleats, then the institution is there to re-focus the student's interests and efforts. The leadership and discipline aspects learned in athletics can then be applied to other interests.  At a D-III school where there are multiple opportunities to try numerous things, that becomes a major function of D-III schools, that may not be possible on a campus of 5,000 or 45,000.

A high percentage of the top leaders at McMurry are "former" athletes, whose talents have been bested at the D-III level.  There is no shame in giving 100% and finding that someone's 100% is better.  Understanding when to move on is a great lesson to learn by your early 20's.

Almost certainly that 101st Alfred football "recruit" will be a talented individual who will leave Alfred better than when he arrived.

[Bombers798891]

Well, I would say that the 20% number isn't really fair because there are certainly opportunities for more than 50 players to get playing time in any individual game. I would say that you could probably comfortably get 80 players into a blowout.

Also, for many small colleges, football is about enrollment. Will 101 kids make it to their senior year of football at Alfred? No. But most of them will stay and graduate, and that's very important.

To your first point, yeah, that's sometimes the case, but you may not have that many blowouts in any given season, (and you can't get 80+ into a road game anyway because the travel team is limited)

I think for teams like MUC, that routinely win games by 40/50 points, that's true, or I guess a bad team. But if you're a team that plays most of their games reasonably close, you're not going to see a lot of opportunities to empty the bench, certainly not to 80 players.

Also, I wonder what it's like for certain positions. Like, you're Mount Union's 2nd/3rd string QB, and you come in at 42-0 in the second half. You're not going to be throwing the ball very much. Or being a backup defensive back, on the flip side. You're going to see a watered down version of the playbook

[AUPepBand]

Pep attended the wedding a month ago of a Pennsylvania kid who was recruited to play football at Alfred. His recruiting visit sold him on the university where he majored in mechanical engineering and chose NOT to play football. He worked for Pep at the library for four years. His high school sweetheart, a year ahead of him, was attending Houghton College, which is also located in Allegany County, which helped them maintain their relationship. Now she is in grad school in Baltimore, MD, where he has landed a job in his field.

Pep also knows of a young man who was recruited to play football at AU who didn't see playing time until his senior year and, quite frankly, sparingly. Yet the kid worked his butt off for four years and is a better man today because of it. Now he's in grad school and Pep is thinking he's got a promising future.

Then there's the QB who was recruited to play football at AU and put in four years of hard work but never started and only emerged as back-up as a senior, when he held for PATs and field goals. A nicer kid Pep may never meet. Hard-worker who was a real encouragement to all his teammates. Was a real contributor to campus life. A solid citizen. He graduated and Pep believes he is employed by the U.S. Border Patrol.

They were all recruited to play football at Alfred. There was something about Alfred that they liked or they would have gone elsewhere. At Alfred, they were, as Coach Muray often says, "great kids." Football may have been the means by which they came to Alfred, but it wasn't the end. Alfred offered them the opportunity to continue to play football while acquiring a quality education that prepares them for promising futures. That may mean four years of junior varsity ball without emerging as a starter--but that opportunity to play remains.

Rudy! Rudy! Rudy!

On Saxon Warriors!